Love the fuzzy, cosy quality of the clothes, they look extremely wearable yet sporty and elegant. A tricky combo to pull off, bravo. Designer Danielle Sherman backed by LVMH and funded by Bono and Ali Hewson managed well and reminded me a little of Phoebe Philo’s Celine.

COACH

Very excited by Coach, this their first season introducing a clothing line designed beautifully by Stuart Vevers who was at LVMH’s Loewe label. He based his thinking on true Americana, wonderfully wearable, witty, leathery and superbly cut. Great bags and even greater boots and shoes, can’t wait.

VICTORIA BECKHAM

Lovely clean lines, elegant and modern. Exquisite tailoring and love the chunky gold chains on the divine coats and coat dresses. Well done team Beckham and I am thinking that our lovey friend Susanne Tide-Frater might have had a good deal to do with concept and execution. Well done.

PRABAL GURUNG

New to me but Gurung, a Nepalese designer, first appeared in 2009 with his first runway collection. He studied in New Dehli at the National Institute of Fashion Technology and then in NY at Parsons. Now an American citizen he is most definitely on the map. Loved his chunky deconstructed knits over chiffon and silk skirts that showed a fair amount of leg, cute. Gorgeous colour combinations and some very clever glam tailoring. Me likey.

We were lucky enough to spend some of our Christmas holidays in the Maldives at the most amazing Soneva Fushi Resort, truly the most impressive hotel we have ever stayed at. They follow a SLOW LIFE philosophy which permeates everywhere you look on the resort and they take environmental issues and responsibilities very seriously. Something very close to our hearts at De Roemer.

Dinner on the amazing Sand Bank opposite Soneva Fushi

“What fun”, the only form of transport on the island!

Whilst we were there we overlapped with some very interesting guests. Justin was delighted to meet Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the moon and to dive on the beautiful coral reef with him more than once! Buzz at the grand age of 83 was diving twice a day! We were very impressed.

Michael Stipe taking a picture of some of ‘The Gathering’ including Tilda Swinton, Sonu and Eva

Group photo of ‘The Gathering’ on the Sand Bank

There was also a rather arty group of about 15, the ‘Gathering’ as they became known. Artists, musicians, directors, creatives and actors. Tilda Swinton and her man, artist, Sandro Kopp were amongst them along with Michael Stipe of REM fame, to name just 3. All terribly nice and keen to make a difference to the world as a collective and as individuals. Known voices can travel quite a distance so we hope that their influence can have some sort of impact on our environmental issues.

Justin and Wolf at the Sand Bank dinner

Ambient lighting on the Sand Bank

Eva and Sonu receiving his De Roemer cashmere!

It was so lovely to spend time with Sonu and Eva, the visionaries and owners of Soneva. They really are wonderful people and they care so much about everything and all the small details as well as being hugely loved by all their staff, family and friends.

Tamsin and Lula thoroughly approving…

My favourite spot in all the world!

What a truly beautiful island and how fabulous to be able to spend some time on it, we would like to go again and again and again….

We thought that we needed to find someone truly creative and unique to add something special to our windows.

Selfridges Window – Apifera 2008

I came across the work of Rebecca Lucraft whilst doing some research and thought that she was just perfect, her background is Chelsea College of Art having studied textile design followed by mixed media textile at the Royal College of Art.

Royal College of Art Show – Down at the Bottom of Bolly-Woods 2009

We asked Rebecca to make some masks and little skirts for our rather fabulous, part calico, part plaster cast mannequins, supplied by Universal Displays, which thankfully, she said yes to.

De Roemer Window – Masks and Skirts, Rebecca Lucraft 2013

You might be interested to have a look at the masks and skirts that Rebecca did for us along with some of the other stunning work that she has done.

De Roemer Mannequins Close up – Masks and Skirts, Rebecca Lucraft 2013

As the winter nights are gradually approaching I decided it was time to make use of my small outside space before it becomes too chilly.

Stuart’s transformed the small deck outside my house into a stunning dinning area complete with gorgeous autumnal floral displays and twinkling lanterns.

The bespoke canopy, created by 10 x 15 Tent Co to shield the setting from any downpours, made the whole area cosy and created an inside out space that flowed into the house. This left plenty of space for people to mingle in my humbly sized living room!

I have been to many lavish parities beautifully created and catered by Stuart’s in Sussex over the years but on this occasion they proved that they can make a small urban space work just as well as a sprawling house with acres of land on which to build a marquee!

My lovely guests such as De Roemer director Justin Packshaw, Melissa Odabash, Lauren Kemp, Amanda Wakeley and David Thomas chose from an array of mouthwatering dishes such as minted halloumi, chestnut mushroom & bell pepper kebabs, saffron spiced lamb skewers with mint and cumin yoghurt and a three beetroot salad with creamy bur rata, sherry vinegar, mint & basil. Add some gorgeous fine wines from the Bordeaux Index and the aroma from the sizzling barbecue that filled the air, making my neighbours hungry and the scene was set.

Melissa Odabash and Amanda Wakeley

The elegant and delicious dinner created by Stuarts complimented the very desirable De Roemer sumptuous cashmere and stunning unique jewellery perfectly. I was flying the flag, of course, wearing my favourite De Roemer gold flecked cream cashmere jumper.

Manuele Malenotti

I love putting friends together. So it was a joy to spend the rest of the evening introducing people to each other who I was sure had plenty in common. Charming Italian Manuele Malenotti who owns motorbike fashion brand Matchless was enwrapped by modern day Indiana Jones Justin’s upcoming adventures. While photographer Kate Martin fell in love with the cashmere offering to shoot the next De Roemer campaign/brochure with my daughter Lauren modelling and me discussing organising an event for Amanda Wakeley…Nothing like keeping it in the family!

Me (Yasmin) and Lauren Kemp

All went home happy with a parting gift of a beautiful De Roemer bracelet and a generous gift voucher for any of the boys who don’t do jewellery.

‘Sometimes one might be forgiven for suspecting that there was a certain complicity in the world of fashion and not least than in the higher echelons of that great arena, is it something in the air, the water, perhaps in the general consciousness!? There is definitely a cross over this season between the worlds of art and fashion, not uncommon or that surprising on the whole but there was a definite movement on the runways this season. ‘Transformative!’, Jeff Koons was heard to say at the Stella McCartney show.

Look at Karl Largerfield for Chanel and his hugely heavy nod in that direction, he certainly went to town with his references and filled the Grand Palais with ‘art pieces’ that he conceived himself, not unlike Jeff Koons! Ahemmm… Phoebe Philo for Celine showed that she too liked a bold stroke when it comes to art and included artistic prints in various colours and styles with a very chic effect.

Chanel

Artistic collaboration is nothing new to Maia Norman of Mother of Pearl, this season she combined forces with Mat Collishaw but has in the past worked with various other artists. Not surprisingly perhaps considering her long term relationship with Damien Hirst. I for one am quite sure that she would have been a huge inspiration to him!

What fun and good to see Grayson Perry, already a fashion darling as well as an excellent artist, promoting and commenting on what is ‘Modern Art’ in his highly acclaimed Rieth lectures, really worth a listen, I think he has a great command of modernism; life imitating art or art imitating life?’

Valentino

My personal favourite showing in Paris this season was Valentino, beautiful, gorgeously elegant, chic and dare I say it, painterly!

We were interested to see what L’Wren Scott was up to as we loved her collection last season which we felt had really gained direction and confidence. Here are some pieces from S/S 14 which to us seems to be leaning more and more towards couture!!? Lovely…

Peter Pilotto

We also noticed that Peter Pilotto seems to fit nicely between Mary Katrantzou and Christopher Kane. Here are some of the looks that we picked out.

Christopher Kane

Christopher Kane presented a huge collection with various themes running through it, here are some of the pieces that we loved, especially loving the heavy heavy shiny shiny satins this season, rich and luxurious but edgy.

Anya Hindmarch

We noticed that quite a few designers had created interesting showcases this season. We thought that Anya Hindmarch and co created a great presentation for her latest collection. Take a look!